Levels of Ascension BoxSet

by Amy Proebstel

  Jena should have come to him about wanting to go to Earth with her mother. Instead, she up and left without as much as a goodbye. To make matters worse, she had been gone for several mesans before he even knew about it.

  That was not a very good point to make. As an attentive man, he should have noticed her absence much sooner. Forget the last argument. She should have come to him and asked his opinion about getting to know her mother. Why she needed one at her age was beyond him anyway.

  He was not about to go back into his parent’s house. It was better for them to worry about where he was so he decided to spend the night at a friend’s house. He gathered several items from his room using the elemy and marched off of the house grounds and down the street. His parents could spend some time thinking about him and what he meant to them rather than how wonderful Jena was and how he had supposedly done her wrong.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Chelesa had been monitoring her son through his birth crystal. More than once she was grateful for the parental link to their children’s necklaces. She was able to clearly see and hear everything going on around Willian. If she really wanted to, she could also use the birth crystal to read his very thoughts.

  She knew Willian’s thoughts were quite dark at the moment and she did not want to subject herself to such negativity. She left his mind alone and just monitored his whereabouts. When she saw him go into his friend’s house, she disconnected the link and looked over at her husband.

  “He’s going to spend the night at one of his friend’s house. Do you think we pushed him too far?” Chelesa was concerned for her son even though she thought the betrothal should have been called off anons before.

  “I doubt we even pushed him at all, except to anger. I’m sure he thinks of himself as the victim here and he blames us for not seeing the big picture.”

  “I think you may be right,” Chelesa said as she sank down on the edge of their bed. The day had been long and exhausting and yet she doubted sleep would come easily.

  “We need to trust Jehoban can work this out for the good, Chelesa.” Debbon sat beside his wife and put his hand gently on her leg to offer comfort.

  Chelesa placed her own hand over his and looked up into his eyes as she said, “I’m trying. Sometimes I wonder what path will have to be taken before it comes out alright.”

  Debbon chuckled because his wife always had interesting insights to Jehoban’s methods. Usually she was right. Now he was probably going to have trouble falling asleep while he pondered all the different ways this situation could go and all of the possible outcomes.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Amanda and Riccan were off for another flying lesson when Behn and Luke both drove in to pick up the girls. The girls parted ways as they each got into different cars. Juila had purposely chosen not to connect their mental link so Jena would be able to relax and have a good time without worrying what her sister would say.

  Luke and Jena went to a comedic movie. He was a perfect gentleman and bought them both popcorn, soda, and several candies. They whispered to one another during the previews and then fell silent as they became engrossed in eating and laughing at the movie.

  Behn and Juila went to the bowling alley. They walked into the loud lobby and Juila looked around with wide eyes. She saw all of the wooden lanes and people throwing large balls down their own lanes. She jumped when the ball crashed into the waiting pins.

  Behn led them to a counter where a man leaned heavily on his elbows and asked in a bored tone, “What size?”

  Behn looked over at Juila to answer.

  Juila looked back at Behn and asked, “What size for what?”

  Behn laughed and said, “Shoes. What size shoes do you wear?”

  “I don’t know. My shoes are fine, though. I don’t need another pair.”

  Again, Behn laughed at Juila’s naivety. “We have to wear special shoes for bowling. Hand me one of your shoes and I’ll look and see what size you wear.”

  She removed her shoe and gave it to Behn with a puzzled expression. She had no idea the shoe size was printed inside her shoe. Juila leaned forward and tried to see what Behn was looking at in her shoe when they bumped heads. “Ow. I’m sorry, Behn.”

  Behn was rubbing his head, but still smiling. He turned to the clerk and said, “She’ll need a size five. I’ll take a ten.” He handed Juila back her shoe and then paid the clerk several dollars for the two new pairs. He took them off the counter and led the way to a bench for them to change into the shoes.

  The clerk yelled out to them, “Take lane six.”

  Behn nodded and asked Juila if she were ready to go pick out a ball.

  Juila nodded without understanding. She had no idea what to look for in a ball.

  Finally, after Behn had his own ball picked out and sitting on the return rack, he came over and helped Juila. He explained, “We are going to be throwing the balls down the lane to try to knock over all ten pins. We get two tries, but you’re trying to get it done with one ball. We need to find you a ball which is not too heavy with finger holes which fit your hand well. Here try this one out.”

  After at least twenty attempts, Juila found a ball which fit relatively well. She put her fingers in and swung the ball like she had seen other people do in the other lanes. This seemed like a very strange activity, but she was up for the challenge.

  Behn went first. His ball hit six pins on the first try and another three on the second. He came back to the seat and marked the scorecard. “It’s your turn, Juila.”

  Juila picked up her ball and inserted her fingers. She stepped up onto the wooden platform and tried to replicate what she had seen Behn do. She took three steps and swung the ball. Suddenly, she felt her feet flying ahead of her. She hit the ground hard and the ball went rolling off of her hand.

  Behn let the ball roll wherever it wanted to go, his main concern was if Juila were injured. He rushed over to her side, knelt down, and asked, “Are you okay?”

  Juila recovered her breath and smiled weakly as she said, “You made this look a lot easier! Why are the shoes so slippery?”

  Behn laughed because he knew she could not be seriously hurt if she were complaining about the shoes. “Do you need help getting up?”

  “I don’t think so. Hey, have you seen my ball?” Juila had gotten to her hands and knees before she realized her hands were empty and the ball was nowhere to be seen.

  “I’ll find it. Be careful getting up!” Behn called back to her as he stepped down from the platform to locate her missing ball.

  Juila was not normally embarrassed in any situation, but for some reason, this had been exceptionally humiliating. She wanted to be good at this because Behn obviously had some skills with it. Immediately, she realized this was how Behn must feel during their crystal lessons. From now on she was going to be more patient and understanding. She never wanted Behn to feel the same as she did when she was lying on the ground.

  She got to her feet and scuffed the shoes on the floor to get the feeling of the slippery feeling soles. Because she knew what to expect, she felt confident she would not repeat her previous performance. Behn had found her missing ball and handed it to her. “Thank you.” She started to turn around when she called over her shoulder saying, “You might want to stand off to the side, just in case!”

  She could hear Behn laughing behind her as she eyed the pins while she stepped forward and released the ball. It was all she could do to keep from using her powers when she realized the ball was not going to hit the pins very well. She held her breath as she watched one pin fall before the ball fell into the gutter. Juila promised herself the next turn would be better.

  Since she had seen how it worked, she realized it was just a math equation which needed to be solved. She needed the right angle and velocity in order to get all the pins to fall. As she waited for the return, she stared at the placement of the remaining nine pins. Immediately she saw what needed to be done to make them fall into each other. She took her final tu
rn and jumped up and cheered as all of the pins fell just as she had imagined.

  She turned with a huge smile on her face and asked, “Did you see that? They all fell down!” She walked back to the bench and sat down. Behn gave her a high five as she passed him.

  The game was close. Both of them were very good at getting the right angle to knock the pins over. The end score was 237 to 243 with Juila in the lead.

  “Are you sure you haven’t played before?” Behn asked.

  “Positive. It’s pretty simple when you understand the math.” Juila had thoroughly enjoyed the game even though her initial impression had not been so favorable.

  Since she had turned in her shoes and put on her original ones, she realized her hip and back were starting to hurt from her fall. As Behn was leading them to the exit, she excused herself and said, “I’ve got to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

  As soon as she locked the stall door behind her she accessed her own life-line and pulled up several strands of elemy to soothe the parts of her which were beginning to cramp up and bruise. She sighed with relief as the soreness evaporated. She released the elemy back into the earth when she no longer felt any twinges of pain.

  She did not heal herself very often since Jena was usually around, but she was thankful she knew how to do it on herself. Her evening could have been so much more painful without the skill they had learned two years before. She opened the stall door and walked out to the sink.

  Juila washed her hands with soap since she realized the bowling ball had left an oily sheen on her hands from handling it. She looked up into the mirror and saw a girl who was having a good time with a person whom she could see herself spending quite a bit more time with. She pulled several paper towels from the dispenser and left the bathroom even as she was drying off her hands.

  “Ready?” Behn asked as she came close.

  “Sure. What are we going to do now?” She looked around and found a trash can and threw her wet paper towels away.

  “I thought we’d go to the pool tables to see if you can apply the same skills to make me look bad at that, too!” Behn chuckled at his own joke.

  Juila wondered if Behn’s feelings were hurt. She could see he was smiling, but was he just using that to hide his true emotions. She went against her own rules and took a quick peek into his mind. With a sigh of relief, she saw he really did not mind if she beat him. He really just wanted to spend more time with her. “I’ll try it. Where are they?”

  “Just down here at the other end of the lobby. There’s a game room for people who don’t like to bowl,” he said as he led the way.

  Once again, Behn explained the rules of the game and the end objective. He racked up the balls and asked, “Do you want me to break or do you want to try it?”

  “You better go first. It’ll give me a chance to see how it works.”

  Behn brought up the pool stick and balanced it across the bridge of his hand. With a quick jerk, he pulled the stick back and then forward until it hit the cue ball with a satisfying thud. The cue flew across the table and struck the cluster, causing it to break apart in every direction. The yellow striped ball flew into a side pocket and Behn got to go again.

  Juila watched avidly as Behn set up several more shots. She could see this game was not so different than bowling. She could apply the same math to get the appropriate angles to make the balls go wherever she wanted. As soon as she got a turn, she would test out her theory. As Behn took yet another shot, she started to wonder if she were even going to get a turn. She watched as the white ball followed the green striped ball into the corner pocket.

  Behn reached in and pulled the cue ball back out and set it on the table. He said, “I scratched, so now it’s your turn. Put the ball anywhere you want as long as it stays behind these two white diamonds here on either side.” He pointed to the design on the side of the pool table and Juila leaned forward to see what he was showing her.

  Just as she had imagined, the game was simple. She finished sinking all of the solid colored balls and then looked up at Behn expectantly. “Do I do the striped ones now?”

  Behn laughed again and said, “No. Those were my responsibility. You won. Let’s rack it up again and we’ll let you go first.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  THEY ENDED UP playing several more games before they called it a night. Behn was satisfied with his one win. He knew it was a fluke, but he would take it anyway. His principal joy was spending time with Juila and hearing her laugh as they executed their plays.

  He drove slowly since he did not want the evening to end. They had school the next day so he knew they had to get back to their own homes soon. He did not want to make Juila sad, but he wanted to know the answer he asked, “Is Jena going to be okay?”

  Juila looked over at him and nodded. “I’m hoping they’ll agree to nullify the agreement and allow Jena to be free to live her own life.”

  “What went wrong with the two of them?”

  “Willian became jealous because Jena’s powers were further along than his own. He resented the idea of Jena being taught by Jehoban whereas Willian was being taught by his father.”

  “I see. Is Willian a really bad person then?”

  “I don’t think so. I just think he’s really bad for Jena. If Willian were to find someone whose skills were not equal to his own, then he wouldn’t feel the need to compete or compare. Does that make sense?”

  Behn mulled over Juila’s ideas and thought he understood what she was trying to say. He said, “I think I get it. How long do you think it’ll take for a decision to be made?”

  “I have no idea. I’ve never heard of a betrothal being broken.”

  “Hmm. Well can you keep me informed of whatever you hear? I don’t want to seem nosy, but I do find the whole thing rather interesting.”

  “Sure.” They were silent for a few moments before Juila put the conversation back on Behn when she asked, “So when are you going to talk to Valentina about Tuala?”

  Behn smirked and let out a breath before he said, “I’d like to complete the second grade skills first. Then I’ll consider telling her.”

  “I don’t think you should wait much longer than that, Behn. It’s great you want to show her what you can do, but if you get too far ahead, then it might put her off on wanting to learn the skills for herself.”

  Behn considered Juila’s statement and realized she might have a valid point. Valentina could be touchy about many things and she was terribly competitive with her siblings. “Okay, I promise to talk to her after I’ve completed level ten, then. I see what you mean about getting too far ahead. I want her to learn everything as I have. We’ll have to learn it if we ever want to return to Tuala, right?”

  Juila laughed as she replied, “No, Behn. It’s not like an entrance exam. Some people never even achieve all of the first ten levels. It’s not a requirement, it’s just strongly suggested to make life easier for the people.”

  Behn was relieved to hear this news. He had the idea of everybody doing everything using the elemy and never lifting a finger except to eat. He had to laugh at his naivety. There was still a lot for him to learn about Tuala. Hopefully, Valentina and Jon would be by his side as they learned about all of its secrets.

  They turned into the Stel driveway. Behn pulled into the circular drive and stopped near the front door. He shut off the engine and turned off the headlights. They had a few more minutes before he would have to get going.

  “I had a good time tonight,” they both said in unison and then they both burst into laughter.

  “Do you think Jena’s home yet?” Behn asked.

  Juila shook her head and said, “They’re driving home right now.”

  “How do you know?”

  Juila wondered if she should keep the secret or tell Behn. Honesty won out and she said, “Jena and I can link our minds. We hear what one another thinks and we can have conversations over vast distances. It’s kind of nice because we can never be lost o
r alone since we always have one another.”

  “It sounds kind of annoying to have a sibling in your head all of the time.”

  “It definitely can be, especially when we’re angry with one another. Most of the time, however, it’s comforting. We always have someone to talk to.”

  “If you say so. Would it be the same if you were to link with my brain?”

  “No. They called ours a twin link and it’s stronger than anyone has ever seen before. What Jena learns, I learn also, and vice versa.”

  “But you two are in so many of the same classes. Aren’t you bored out of your mind then?”

  “It can get pretty tedious in school. Next term we’re going to ask for completely separate schedules so we can learn twice as much in the same amount of time. We don’t have too much longer before we’re going to have to return to Tuala.”

  “Wait! What? Why do you have to return? Why can’t you stay here like your father does?”

  Juila realized she had said too much. She could not leave Behn wondering what was going on so she gave him a simple answer. “We have a task set out for us to do in Tuala. Once we’ve finished it, then we’ll be free to live our own lives. Until it’s accomplished, we’re going to have to return to Tuala.”

  “You make it sound as if you know when you’re leaving. Do you?” Behn realized he was going to have to speed up his plan for learning if the girls were going to be leaving.

  “We have just over a year left before we leave.”

  “So you’ll be able to finish high school, right?” Behn did not know why it was so important to him for them to finish. Maybe he was just being selfish and wanted to spend the rest of his schooling with them.

  “Yes, we will, just barely. Hopefully.” Juila hoped she was telling the truth.